


Ding Dong the Witch is Dead

by PastelLunarPrince



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Rumbelle - Freeform, but it happened and i hope it's not awful, i don't know what this is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-23
Updated: 2014-04-23
Packaged: 2018-01-20 12:30:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1510496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PastelLunarPrince/pseuds/PastelLunarPrince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Belle is probably the most bad ass of them all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ding Dong the Witch is Dead

In reality, Belle had been on the verge of figuring out Zelena’s plan since they had discovered who the witch in their midst was. However, spending days alone in the shop with no one to talk to did leave her quite a bit of time.

She tried remembering the past year - the one no one could remember - and she succeeded in some way. Her dreams had become more vivid, more realistic, and in them she saw her Rumple, born again out of darkness. And she remembered flashes of traveling through the Enchanted Forest, but once she woke she tried to tell herself they were just dreams.

The books scattered throughout the shop were full of ancient histories and spells and ways of magic. She found herself learning magic as she went, but having to hide it whenever someone burst through the door of the shop - why did she never think to lock the door? Oh, right, because she thought people would actually read the sign that said ‘Closed’ on the door.

"Belle?"

Belle marked her placed and closed the large tome she was reading, glancing over the different types of spells and curses. She walked into the front of the shop to find the Charmings standing there.

"What can I do for you?"

"We were going to go to Zelena’s. See if.." Snow muttered, casting her eyes away from Belle.

"To see if you can get Rumple out." Belle was getting extremely annoyed with them treating her like some fragile doll who could do nothing but weep without her true love. That was preposterous; she wasn’t some defenseless creature. She had, in all actuality, changed the Dark One’s heart back on a path of good as well as hunted down a yaoguai and saved the cursed prince it hid. She had had many of her own adventures, and she would not stand being treated like a little girl anymore.

"We figured you’d want to come," David said.

Belle raised an annoyed eyebrow at him. “Really? You do realize that he probably wouldn’t listen to you two anyway, right?” She shook her head and grabbed her coat, brushing past them and out of the shop’s front door. She pulled her gloves out of the pocket of her coat, looking down at the Ouroboros snake that had appeared around her wrist soon after she began teaching herself the magic in the books. She had some untapped power, that much was obvious, but the burn-scar looking snake moving beneath the skin - always appearing to eat its own tail - gave her solace as well as confidence that she was going to get her love back.

-

The cellar was dank and cold and dark. Zelena had left no lamp or candle lit, and he couldn’t stop the dark thoughts that came to his mind. Having the dagger so close to him was all in all distracting and a bit uncomfortable. He could hear voices of the previous Dark One(s); part of him couldn’t tell if it were multiples before him or just mostly his own demons haunting him.

He felt a slight sting around his right wrist, and quickly moved the sleeve of his jacket and shirt to try and make out what had happened. Was this another one of the witch’s tricks? Another way to control him? He glared at the moving snake; it moved slowly, and though he wanted so badly to be angry he couldn’t. It calmed him.

Then the cellar doors opened and sunlight washed over the room. He knew no good could come of whoever walked down those stairs. If it were Zelena, he’d have to put up with more of her chit-chat, and truthfully it was making him weary. However, if it were someone else, Zelena would know and he’d have to kill them, and god he hoped it wasn’t-

"Rumple?"

Her. His Belle. He longed to see her, to hold her, just to touch her. But he didn’t want to see her in this state. Not the way he was, not under Zelena’s control. He could hear David and Snow outside, telling Belle to be careful, looking after her like worried parents or overbearing friends. He wanted to yell at them. His Belle was stronger than that and didn’t need them looming over her.

"Belle," his voice showed the relief he didn’t want her to see. It also held a tone of warning. He noticed her gloved hands, but also noticed that though there was snow on the ground, the gloves she wore provided limited warmth and therefore served another purpose. He looked up into her eyes as she came fully into the room and closer to the cage he sat in. "Belle, what are you doing here?"

"Isn’t it obvious?" Belle said, opening the door of the cage. "Come on. Let’s go." She held out her left hand.

"Belle, I can’t." He shook his head. "As long as she holds the dagger, I cannot leave."

"Just try," Belle pleaded. "You just have to believe in us."

There was an air of relief as he grabbed her hand, but then tension as he pulled back as Zelena stepped into sight - taking Belle’s glove with him.

"How sweet," Zelena cooed mockingly.

Though Belle showed a bit of fright at her appearance, it was simply because of the Ouroboros now partly visible from beneath the hem of her jacket sleeve.

"True Love isn’t going to work this time, dear," Zelena said, smirking as she held the dagger in her hands. She looked on it as if it were her most prized possession - moreover, as if the person it controlled were the prize.

"Leave." Rumple growled. "Leave. And if you come back, I will kill you."

Belle heard Snow and David at the top of the stairs, and for a moment she debated on heading up and not returning. However, the less logical part and more magical part of her decided to not listen to the threat. She had dealt with Rumple’s outbursts quite a few times and though being thrown in a dungeon after saying the wrong things was probably nothing compared to being killed, she had been shot before.

"No."

"No?" Zelena repeated, amused and slightly bewildered that this insolent child would stand up to her. "What are you? Some little princess with daddy issues?"

Belle glared. “I once was. You’d have issues with your father too if he tried to give you amnesia just because he didn’t like the person you fell in love with.” She took her jacket off and pushed up the sleeves of her sweater. She heard the sharp intake of breath from the other two in the cellar and looked down. It seemed the Ouroboros had taken root in more than one place, or perhaps it was just the head and tail around her wrist and the body had decided to encircle her entire being.

"Believe me, I had my own issues with my father," Zelena said, taking a step toward Belle. She dipped slightly so that she she was eye level with the other girl. "I suggest you leave, girl. Or it won’t be him killing you; he’ll just have to sit and watch."

Belle hadn’t let the unnerved reaction go unnoticed, and even as she listen to Zelena speak, she knew that whatever was going with Belle was enough to throw off Zelena. She grinned and got closer to Zelena, noses almost touching.

"I’m not leaving without him," she said, pointing to the raggedy man backed against the opposite side of the cage. The doors to cellar slammed shut and all of the lamps flickered on. Snow and David could be heard trying to open the door, but to no avail.

"You’re a fool, girl," Zelena said, slapping Belle across the cheek with the hilt of the dagger.

Belle stumbled just slightly, but then looked at Zelena, renewed purpose in her blue eyes.

Though he wanted to help, Rumple simply watched on as the two threw punches and he watched as Belle impressed him repeatedly - he knew she had been on her own for quite some time, but had never realized exactly how she had done it. He felt a slight sting come from the smaller Ouroboros around his wrist, and he shifted slightly so he could see it. He watched as it glowed and then looked to see Belle glowing where the Ouroboros was etched in her skin - her pure blue eyes flecked with gold.

A binding spell. She must have not meant to cast it, but there it was. She was using his magic against Zelena in a way that he could not. She was using his thoughts and his powers and the freedom to do what she wished without the curse of being controlled by the dagger. And he reminded himself to make her a nice dinner and hold her close once they escaped and rid themselves of this Wicked Witch.

"I wanted no more interference before the battle with my sister, and yet here you are-" Zelena grunted, "-trying to ruin my plans!" She pushed Belle away from her, but when she looked where the girl should have been standing, she noticed two things: 1. Belle was nowhere to be seen, and 2. the dagger was no longer in her hand.

"Y’know, when I first came to Rumple’s castle in the Enchanted Forest, I was curious as to how a man with such a good heart and a true compassion for helping people - no matter how much he had denied it - could succumb and become something so dark," Belle said, leaning against a wooden beam behind Zelena. She turned the dagger over in her hands, examining it. She laughed as Zelena tried to advance toward her. "Oh sit down." She groaned, pushing Zelena backwards with a bit of magic just as she put a stool under her.

Rumple let himself relax knowing that the person who held the dagger was the woman he loved and not a woman who had come to hate-love him. Really, he should have just let Belle keep the dagger and let her hide it so he could never find it and do something stupid. Again.

"Then, as I came to know him, I realized he did this because of his heart - because of this compulsion to save everyone, except…" Belle paused. "Except himself." She internally winced as she felt the Ouroboros contract and move itself to sit just around her wrist once more. "But you see, there comes a time where you must pay a price. All magic, all spells, all curses - they come with a price, Zelena."

Rumple watched as the flecks of gold did not leave Belle’s eyes and he knew at once what price she had paid to learn the magic she had in the weeks or months they had all been back in Storybrook. Her heart had now been tainted and even as he watched her look at the dagger, he knew that it could control a part of her as well. He was certain she could fight the commands, much like pushing down a compulsion or urge, unlike him.

Zelena looked between the two before focusing her attention on Belle, grinning. “My price was paid before the magic even became a major part of my life. My mother abandoned me.”

"But you had a life in Oz, Zelena," Belle said, exasperated. "Just because one mother abandoned you, doesn’t mean that another didn’t give you the love you needed."

Zelena didn’t respond for a moment; she simply glared at the town’s resident bookworm. “My parents never loved me. No one ever did.” She pushed through the magic Belle had used to keep her seated and advanced towards her. Before she knew what had happened, the room seemed to spin and it was her in the cage looking out at Belle and Rumple standing next to each other.

"Rumple."

"Yes, dear?"

"I know what you’re thinking, and her control of you has been broken," Belle stated, looking at the woman in the cage.

A dark grin spread across his lips and all of the lights went out as a shrill scream erupted into the air.

-

Belle and Rumple left the cellar, and once they were out, they shared probably the most earnest kiss since the first curse was broken, or when Belle became Belle again, or… Well, most if not all of their kisses were earnest and needy because neither knew when it would be their last for a long time or ever.

They didn’t notice that Snow and David had gather the entire population of Storybrook around the cellar until Regina cleared her throat.

Belle’s instincts led her to put her hand on the hilt of the dagger she had haphazardly stuck into her coat pocket.

"Gold, it’s good to see you out and about," Regina said. She looked at the two. "Now where’s my sister?"

Before Regina could get her answer, Snow and David had rushed over to Belle.

"We thought she had killed you, or had him…" Snow blinked and glanced over at Rumple, who raised his hands in defense.

"Snow. Stop. He’s a good man and I don’t see the problem you have with him." Belle said, shaking her head and pushing the two away from her. "He’s done nothing but help you - trust me, I know. I lived with him while he was doing it. He’s never once tried killing any of you, in fact, he insured that you’d all be safe and happy in the end. So, just stop."

With the townsfolk in shock, Belle took Rumple’s hand and left them all standing there. Her left hand entwined with his right, she could feel the Ouroboros move around both of their wrists.

-

It had been a few days since the incident, and the shop had been rather quiet - which neither one was used to - so they decided to just stay at the obnoxiously pink house for a day, away from the townspeople.

The two sat on the living room floor, spell books and history books spread out all around them, notebooks full of paper and notes accompanying the large books.

"How did you do it?" Rumple finally asked. He looked at her, sitting next to him in her silk nightgown, the Ouroboros snaking its way under her skin.

"Hmm?"

"The binding spell," he said, running his fingers through her hair as she laid her head on his shoulder. "I knew you had an affinity for magic objects, but I am rather impressed that you have magical abilities."

Belle laughed quietly and nuzzled against him. “I just started reading.” She said. “And soon, I was having these dreams. I met my mother.” She said off-hand. “And I could just sense this great goodness in her. She glowed, like fairy dust.” She smiled. “And she smelled of vanilla and chamomile.” After a pause, she continued. “And she hugged me and cried and when I woke up…” She trailed off. “I had read through nearly every book of magic in the shop and retained the information and the Ouroboros was there…” She traced her fingers over the snake around her love’s wrist. “I didn’t know it would do this.”

"All magic-"

"-comes with a price." Belle said along with him, smiling.

"I know it does." She sat up and looked at the books surrounding them. "And I’ve paid the price willingly. I have you back; Zelena is no longer a problem, and it’s been three days since-"

There was a knock at the door.

"We’ve been bothered." Belle finished in a low grumble. She grabbed her knee length robe from the couch as she stood up, pulling it on and lazily tying the belt. 

Opening the door, she had the inclination to simply slam it back shut. Just as she was going to do so, Rumple came behind her and put his hand on the large wooden door.

"What can we do for you this afternoon?" There was no want to help them in his voice.

Snow clasped her hands on top of her swollen belly. “Look, we wanted to apologize.”

"For everything," David added. "For everything that happened in the Enchanted Forest, and how we’ve treated you and Belle while here in Storybrook." He looked at the two of them.

"We didn’t know how you’d react, so we thought we’d give you time," Snow looked down and then back at them. "We really are terribly sorry."

Rumple and Belle exchanged a glance before Belle shrugged.

"Your apologies are accepted," Rumple said. "Now, we’d like to spend the rest of the day alone."

"No one else is to bother us at home," Belle added, as if it were necessary.

Once the Charmings were gone, Belle sighed.

"It’s a start, at least," she shrugged and walked to the kitchen to begin preparing tea. Rumple followed her and washed up the dishes in the sink. They hadn’t really left each other’s sight since the escape from Zelena.

Belle smiled, turning to face Rumple as the water began boiling.

Looking at her, Rumple couldn’t help but feel the swell of emotions he felt towards the young woman: love, respect, pride, the list went on. The magic he sensed coursing through her gave him a feeling of dread and slight regret at the price she paid to save him - as she had done so many times before. In an instant he had pulled her to him, cupping her face and covering her lips with his. He smiled into the kiss, knowing that this was how he’d like to spend the rest of his days.


End file.
